Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Byzantium fought for survival for eight centuries until, by the mid-15th century, the Emperor Constantine XI ruled a tiny handful of territories, an empire in name and tradition only. However, he had a powerful defensive weapon in the form of his capital, Constantinople, protected by an impregnable wall system. For the Turks in 1453, Constantinople was a fruit ripe for the picking, the conquest of which had been a dream of Islamic armies for many centuries. Despite leading 80,000 men and a massive siege train against the city, Mehmet 'The Conqueror' had to besiege Constantinople for four months before the venerable city finally fell. This beautifully illustrated book chronicles the history of Byzantium, the evolution of the defences of Constantinople and the epic siege up to the breaching of the great walls, which heralded the birth of the Ottoman Empire in its fully developed form. Text by David Nicolle, Stephen Turnbull and John Haldon.